Back Talk 

Daily woes
However embarrassing it was for the Herald-Sun to be so masterfully and repeatedly scooped by the N&O's Michael Biesecker ("Herald-Sun slow on candidate's rap sheet," Oct. 5), they still owed it to the citizens of Durham to expose the criminal element among the candidate class. When the N&O kneeled to beat the war drums during the lead-up to Iraq while simultaneously abandoning Durham coverage, it was easy to cancel my subscription. I still subscribe to the Herald, but if their new and apparently useless management only aspire to "happy news," then it's time to deep-six them, too.

Maybe the Indy should become a daily.
Steve Bocckino
Durham

Light rail letter light on facts
I reply to the letter Mr. Sanera wrote you (Back Talk, Sept. 21) criticizing Bob Geary's piece on light rail.

I am not a fan of the TTA rail plan. It looks to me like a tax-financed handout to real estate speculators.

But, since Mr. Sanera claims to be a stickler for the facts, he deserves correction. His letter repeated a misconception so widely held it is not always recognized as a lie. Car owners do not pay 100 percent of the cost of the roads. Rather, transit-dependent citizens, such as me, pay a significant share of fuel taxes as the added cost of groceries and every other necessity that arrives at our neighborhood retailers by truck.

We also pay municipal taxes to keep on the streets a police force that, undoubtedly, spends a considerable portion of its time sorting out traffic accidents, chasing speeders and listening to drunks recite the alphabet in reverse.

If my trusty sneakers and I get involved in a traffic accident, it's a good bet you can send my few undamaged organs to someone who can still use them and plant my bones in potter's field.

So, happy motoring, Mr. Sanera! Thanks for getting us the facts.
Josh McIntyre
Raleigh

Correction
In the Oct. 5 cover story about Little Brother, the name of The Away Team emcee Sean Boog was misspelled.

Clarification
An article last week about the Libertarian Party filing suit to challenge North Carolina's restrictive ballot access law did not include updated information. The Libertarians filed the lawsuit Sept. 21 in Wake County Superior Court and a judge later canceled a preliminary injunction that would have allowed Libertarian candidates on primary ballots in Mecklenburg and Forsyth counties. As a result, Libertarian Party candidates running for city council seats in Winston-Salem were decertified and taken off the ballot. The Libertarian Party plans to ask the court for another preliminary injunction this week that would allow Libertarian candidates in Forsyth and Mecklenburg counties on the Nov. 8 ballots.